Can you imagine a world without vinyl?

Well I guess I will chime in. I have had the pleasure to hear a few very good vinyl rigs but none was good enough to my ears to convince me to buy a turntable. My 150+ albums will remain in storage. But to those who love it fantastic I am happy for you as this hobby is all about the enjoyment of music and equipment. I must confess though as a mechanical engineer some of those turntables are absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Mmmmmmm On second thought maybe I will buy one.

Chuck

Dart:

Albertporter...Texas is the land of big everything...even, I notice, opinions! I thought we agreed that some aspects of digital, like convenience, to pick a non-controversial aspect, are "better" than vinyl

I have always stated that digital was more convenient, and that it was cheaper.

Do you remember our group member named Dave Kemp. You and he exchanged email's on the topic of classical music. Dave was found dead in his N. Dallas apartment three days ago. His brother says it was a heart attack and that he likely did not suffer too much.

Tomorrow night will be our first meeting without him. I'm probably not in the best spirit and certainly not in a friendly mood for attacks against analog.

I'm not sure by their responses that Albert and Raul totally get what I said above. I didn't say anything about the subjective sound of vinyl compared to CD or vice versa, at any limit you care to push the playback envelope, or at any budget, be it high or low, or anything about my own personal preferences. I'm just talking about the theoretical limits of closely approaching transmitting an exact copy of a mastersource using analog or digital means. (For those who may not know, my vinyl collection is over 10X larger than my CD collection at around 10,000 pieces. And no, I haven't come anywhere near pushing the envelope for playback of either format, and never will. All of which is irrelevent to my post.)

Check this website out; it being of very convenient coincidence. A local record store; lp's as well as cds, ran this website exploring the benefits of vinyl playback. Nothing really new, but telling considering the source. http://media.www.marquettetribune.org/media/storage/paper1130/news/2007/01/25/Marquee/Vinyl-2669616.shtml?sourcedomain=www.marquettetribune.org&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com

From the article:

Even if the sound quality of vinyl contains some surface noise, as the static of records notoriously attracts dust, the imperfection is still welcome to many.

And

He also welcomes the unique sound of records. "The surface noise adds to lots," he said. "It gives it weight."

That's the first time I've read an article where noise and pops on an LP are described as beneficial. If my system matched their description I think the "romance" would disappear in about 15 minutes.

Mine is DEAD silent. We get maybe one or two clicks during an entire session that show up unexpectedly within the music. Otherwise the presentation from my turntable is identical to my digital (noise wise).

To single out the one or two clicks a night during a music session that spans 3.5 to 4 hours of LP swapping would be like test driving a Porsche Carrera and complaining about the experience because a gnat splattered on the wind screen.

Music is about emotion. I follow what works, I don't care how much labor it requires or how inconvenient is it. I just want to be in love with the music and analog delivers that emotion, goose bumps, chills and all.

When it's right, it tears at your emotions like the love of a good woman. Digital pulls at your ears but not your heart. Both can be exciting but only one of them sweeps away the world and delivers the goods.